Chronicles of Carnezia (Book 2): Wilderness

Chapter 31: Dragon Talk

Chapter 31: Dragon Talk

            It was a few days later, when I was just about to leave, that Torrin gave Frain and me one last visit (or so I thought). He was lying down, whilst I was once again sorting Frain’s harness.

            ‘You will not be travelling alone, Egg-Saver,’ he began. ‘I will be going with you and Zika.’

            Frain swung his head but it was low and he almost knocked me over if I hadn’t been paying attention. ‘Why, old one?’ he asked, sounding concerned rather than surprised.

            Torrin dropped his head and the darkened look in his eyes gave him a new menacing appearance. ‘Because there are things that need to change. Especially after what you have told us. Zika is coming but not with Ebra; this is something to do with us dragons alone. An awful amount of the newest generation of Tamers that haven’t heard of us elders nor our stories. It is a great shame and we need to sort out this issue with that strange dragon.’

            It was my turn to sound concerned. ‘Why isn’t Ebra coming along? Zika is hardly ever very far from his Tamer.’

            ‘He is getting older now, although he is considerably younger than myself. It is only recently that he is flying for longer periods of time. Ebra understands, as old as he is in human years. Do not worry, young ones, you will understand when we get there.’

            Frain and I didn’t ask anymore. We were soon ready though Frain seemed suddenly reluctant to leave with any amount of gusto. He was lolling about, walking around with his head held low on his slender neck. I wasn’t as concerned about him as I probably should have been. That came down to not knowing him anywhere near as well as the older Tamers knew their own dragons. It was only when Zika circled above that Torrin launched into the air and joined him. Only then did Frain seem keen enough to take to the skies.

            So, I flew on the back of one dragon and in the company of the two oldest male dragons in this world. It was quite a splendid sight seeing them soaring above and below us. As always, they could fly much higher than Frain but they stayed relatively close so as not to make Frain feel alone. I was quite happy watching them and feeling Frain’s various muscles move under me; even as his tail swished to keep him straight. The more I focused on it, the stranger it felt but if it all helped keeping us in the air then that was fine by me.

*****

            By the time we had landed near to the Draconian walls, there was a flash of colour to the sky as a crowd of dragons came to see what the sudden appearance of their elders was for. I dropped down the side of Frain and patted my hand along his neck as he curled up on the ground.

            ‘I’m fine. Go look after Torrin.’

            I turned around and the old dragon was snarling lowly; not only him though but Zika as well. They stood side by side, their teeth bared but the younger dragons couldn’t see what was going on. Bustling my way through them, it took me awhile to finally stand beside Torrin’s foreleg. He was still snarling until I touched my palm to his scales.

            ‘Torrin, please. Go for a flight over the city. I will sort these out,’ I offered to him. He took it with one final snarl, unfurled his wings as pounced out of the reach of the others. Zika took his place and we all watched as the black dragon soared above the gates and landed in the place of the sentinels. Torrin waited there.

            I was about to look up at Zika, when my hands shot up to my ears as he roared like thunder right beside me. ‘Enough! Now, go back to your business. All of you, except the sentinels,’ he added hissingly on the end. As soon as his order had been said, most of the fifty or so dragons that had assembled flew away like a swarm of bees leaving a few behind. As the others disappeared back to the nesting cliffs, Torrin rejoined us here on the ground.